This reusable beer bottle could change the way America drinks

Sometimes the best ideas are old ideas. While McDonalds and Starbucks are trying to develop a compostable cup of the future , the state of Oregon has introduced a new glass beer bottle that could redefine the way we drink beer across the country. The bottle’s secret? It can be reused. Once customers are done drinking their beer, the bottles can be handed in, washed, and used again. This process can be rinsed and repeated up to 25 times, which its creators believe would lead to a 92% savings in carbon footprint versus merely recycling aluminum or glass. Why? It takes a lot less energy to wash out a bottle and then heat an oven to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit to melt and mold a new one. “It’s a plus economically, and environmentally,” says Jules Bailey, chief stewardship officer and head of communications at the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC). [Photo: OBRC] Reusing bottles is not a new idea–and many countries across the world, the ritual is still in practice. But as Bailey explains, it’s fallen out of fashion in the U.S. While reusable bottles peaked in the 1930s and ’40s , he argues that the booming craft brew movement […]

Grant Brown is a passionate environmentalist, driven by a need to “leave it better than he found it”. This drive, combined with a capacity to understand power solutions of all types, helps him in his day job as VP Marketing at a start up clean technology company. His goal personally as well as professionally, is to help and inspire others to become a part of the green shift and to leave a positive legacy in the world.